RAF Station Bourn was the home of 97 Squadron for one year. This new page contains images, old and new, of the station.
Author: RAF PATHFINDERS ARCHIVE
The Archive covers many aspects of life in RAF Bomber Command from 1942, the year in which the Path Finder Force (the PFF, later known as 8 Group) was formed. However, the Archive's specific focus is upon the Pathfinders as they were generally called. Historically, this Archive has always been centred around 97 Squadron, which belonged to the Pathfinders for one year. However, we are now looking to substantially increase the Archive to include all PFF squadrons, PFF HQ, and the wider Bomber Command and Home Front milieus. The aim of the Archive is to provide an in-depth illustration of what life - and death - were like for Pathfinder aircrew, their working comrades, their friends, and their families.
Update on Doug Jones Crew
Doug Jones’ crew is one of those I have known about for several years, but have only just got round to putting more of the information on the crew online. This had been largely prompted by the arrival here of Maurice Hemming’s memoir, Achieve Your Aim – Maurice was the Flight Engineer. My thanks to Rob Churchyard for sending the memoir.
All the crew survived their tour. They were part of B-Flight, and appear in a well-known photograph from around September 1943.
Moroney Crew
It was extremely rare for a bomber crew in dire trouble to be able to send a message before the aircraft came down, but this was the case for the Moroney crew on 22 March 1944, whose w/op transmitted from the North Sea. Sadly, rescue never came and all the crew were lost.
Burns Crew – Dolby
The Burns crew page has finally been set up properly, and a photograph of the Flight Engineer Earle George Dolby has been added.
16/17 December 1943
Tonight, at about this time, the first of the 21 Lancasters would be departing from Bourn. Right now, on the darkening airfield, all of the engines would be roaring and the air would be electric.
In three hours time, the Brill crew would be lost over Berlin. Crew: Brill
In seven hours time, the first of the returning aircraft would be landing. In the two hours after that, the numerous crashes would take place.
Tonight we remember all those who died, and those who survived horribly injured. See Memorial Page
Doc Macgown
The PFF Group Medical Officer was a highly impressive man known informally as Doc Macgown. For details of Macgown’s remarkable life, see this new page:
Eric Rimmington
I am very sad to inform you all that Eric Rimmington of the Benton crew passed away on 9th October 2016. He was 95 years old.
As his daughter Joan wrote, Eric was ‘a wonderful, much loved and respected man by all that knew him’.
I was in correspondence with Eric for several years, but the only time I met him was at the old airfield at Bourn in the summer of 2014. He was so extremely modest that he did not want to wear his medals until he was pressed to do so – everybody wanted to take a photograph of him with them. He was such a lovely gentleman, and the word ‘gentleman’ suited him perfectly.
Jennie Gray
McEgan Cine Film
Our last update on this memorial day concerns a unique piece of cine film, the only one we know of a member of 97 Squadron in wartime. Taken in 1943, it epitomises the glamour of RAF aircrew.
The man in the film is Frank McEgan, an Australian and a member of the RAAF. However, we use the term ‘RAF aircrew’ above because all the RAAF, RCAF and RNZAF aircrew were under the full operational command of the RAF.
Black Thursday
As part of our commemoration of Black Thursday, we are posting an article by Doug Curtis, who flew that night and was one of the lucky survivors. Here is the link to Doug’s article, which was originally published almost 20 years ago in 1998.
Scott Crew Page Update and Addition of Loss Card
The Scott crew page has been updated with a new photograph of Sid Parrott and of the entire crew, posed in two stunning studio portraits, two months before their deaths on Black Thursday. These studio portraits are highly unusual as almost invariably photographs of a crew are informal snapshots, usually on the airfield with their Lancaster. Perhaps the fact that so many of the crew were from overseas had something to do with this. Scott and Foxcroft were from the RAAF and Irvine and Hope were from the RCAF.
Additionally, the Loss Card for the Scott crew aircraft has been added, which is representative of those filled out for Black Thursday and for other UK-based RAF accidents.
RAF PATHFINDERS ARCHIVE 